no title

Glass recycling will make a big difference

Letters Policy

The Dispatch welcomes letters to the editor from readers. Typed letters of 200 words or
fewer are preferred; all might be edited. Each letter must include name, home address and daytime
phone number.
Dispatch.com also posts letters that don't make it to print in
The Dispatch.

The July 13
Dispatch editorial “Filling up the glass” was right on target in applauding a new pilot
recycling program in Columbus to collect glass from local bars and restaurants.

The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association joins
The Dispatch in commending Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman for his leadership and the
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for providing $37,500 in grant funding support for this
innovative recycling program.

Ohio manufacturers have a voracious appetite for recycled materials. Manufacturers’ use of
recycled products reduces energy consumption, conserves raw materials and reduces greenhouse-gas
and other emissions.

Unfortunately, existing infrastructure for collecting and processing these materials is not
sufficient to meet industry demand. Consequently, we are wasting huge amounts of valuable
commodities that Ohio manufacturers could use. Those manufacturers have to import recycled
materials into Ohio.

According to the Container Recycling Institute, 282,332 tons of beverage-container glass sold
into Ohio in 2010 were never recovered for re-use.

As a result, Ohio-based Owens-Illinois spends millions of dollars a year to import recycled
glass from outside Ohio for its plant located in Zanesville. The cost of freight alone is more than
$500,000 a year.

Nationally, in 2011, the aluminum-can sheet industry was forced to import 8 billion recycled
cans from outside the U.S. to satisfy demand. Assuming Ohio’s recycling rate is around 25 percent,
about 3 billion cans, or 88 million pounds of recyclable aluminum, are put in Ohio landfills each
year — recyclable materials worth about $50 million annually.

The pilot recycling program in Columbus is a step in the right direction and proof that
political leadership, combined with innovative thinking and consumer resolve, can make a
difference.

Let’s hope this program is a springboard for even-greater progress toward creating a more robust
recycling infrastructure in Ohio.

Meanwhile, congratulations and thanks to Coleman and Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally and their
staffs — and to the participating bars and restaurants.